Egypt's Prime Minister Hisham Qandil has called on all political groups "not to give political cover to those who incite violence," as fears abound over fierce clashes between opponents and supporters of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi 30 June. In press statement Saturday, Qandil underlined the importance of keeping the "peaceful nature of the political process." The Rebel campaign, a signature drive that aims at gathering 15 million endorsements to withdraw confidence from President Mohamed Morsi, has called for mass protests at the presidential palace 30 June. While the turnout of protesters is expected to be high, with many political forces and remnants of the former regime eager to participate, figures from the Muslim Brotherhood, from which Morsi hails from, and other Islamist forces announced they would hold a counter-rally. Last December, clashes erupted after Morsi supporters arrived at the presidential palace where an opposition sit-in and protest was taking place against the 22 November 2012 constitutional declaration. Both sides swapped accusations of responsibility for the violence, claiming that the seven killed were from their respective camps. After bloody confrontations, a number of videos circulating on the Internet showed civilians being tied up, physically abused and interrogated by bearded men in the vicinity of the presidential palace. One of the victims was a former Egyptian diplomat, Yehia Negm, who alleged during an interview with Al-Hayat TV channel that Brotherhood members tortured him for several hours. In March, a host of protesters gathered at the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood to protest against "Brotherhood rule." A number were assaulted by members of the Islamic group, as videos and photos showed. Anti-Brotherhood protesters were infuriated because Mervat Moussa, political activist and member of Egypt's Popular Current movement, was knocked out with a slap across her face by a Brotherhood supporter at the group's HQ in earlier confrontations. Source : Ahram
